Anchorage Completes Sweep to Advance

Maine celebrates a 2-1 series lead while Bismarck kept their season alive with a win in Aberdeen. (Photo credits: Ted Davis (cover), Ron Morin (top image), and Laurie Stroh (bottom image)

Rochester 3 @ Johnstown 4 (2OT) (Rochester leads East Division Semifinals 2-1): In the first period, Tate Pecknold scored for the Tomahawks with help from Markas Samenas. Rochester’s Ryan Shaw put a goal on the board assisted by Demitri Diflorio. Adam Ondris scored for Johnstown assisted by Dylan Shane and Adam Csabi. Dexter Kichline scored an unassisted goal for the Jr. Americans. In the second period, Johnstown’s Caden Olenczak scored with help from Kirby Perler and Sam Blanton. During the third period, JC Humphreys tied up the game for Rochester with an unassisted goal. During the first overtime, nobody scored. Double overtime called the game for a win for Johnstown with a goal scored by Blanton assisted by Lukas Klemm and Pecknold. Jensen Carlstrom made 28 saves for the Rochester Jr. Americans and Nick Avakyan made 43 saves for the Johnstown Tomahawks.

Maryland 0 @ Maine 3 (Maine leads East Division Semifinals 2-1): During the first period, the game remained scoreless. During the second period, no goals were scored. In the third period, Kellen Murphy put the Maine Nordiques on the board with a goal assisted by Zion Green and Laurent Trepanier. Damon Myers increased the lead with help from Ryan Santiago and Connor McNaughton. Ethan Wongus solidified the win for the Nordiques with a goal assisted by Carter Richardson. Marko Bilic made 21 saves for the Maryland Black Bears and Carter Richardson made 32 saves for the Maine Nordiques for the shutout. 

Wisconsin 3 @ Chippewa 2 (OT) (Wisconsin leads Midwest Division Semifinals 2-1): Countless blocked shots, numerous stretch saves and a series-securing overtime goal pushed the Wisconsin Windigo to a 2-1 series lead with a 3-2 win over the Chippewa Steel on Friday evening. There’s no better place than home, but Wisconsin had no issue playing spoiler to their gracious hosts to secure Game 3 of Midwest Division Semifinals. Capitalizing on an offensive zone turnover, Logan Nickolaus used a swift snapshot to find the back of the net early in the first period to put the Windigo up by one, followed by Jackson Ernst who potted his first goal of the series after being tee’d up on a quick pass in the slot. A nifty stick lift and dump into the zone was chased down and retrieved by Conner Jalbert who buried it from the sharp angle. After wearing Wisconsin down in the defensive zone, Tomas Trunda fed Zach Sondreal for his second assist of the series as Chippewa tied the score at 2-2 midway through the third. Wisconsin responded by pouring on 21 shots in the third period alone, but were unable to find the back of the net as overtime was forced. After 10 minutes of overtime with no answer, Nate Farrel walked the line and fired a seeing-eye puck that found the of the net to end the action Chippewa netminder Devin Shakar made  41 saves on 44 shots through 70 minutes, while Lucas Szyszka tallied up 26 saves on 28 shots to secure the series leading win for the Windigo.

Bismarck 3 @ Aberdeen 1 (Bismarck leads Central Division Semifinals 2-1): Bismarck staved off elimination with a gutsy 3-1 victory. The Bobcats came out of the gates desperate and aggressive, striking first in the game. Keanu Krenn put the Bobcats on the board just 91 seconds into the contest. Tommy Cronin and Nate Bannister grabbed the helpers on the opening tally. However, Bannister took a boarding minor roughly 10 minutes later that cost his side. Aberdeen capitalized 1:50 into the man advantage. Bryce Johnson tied the game at one off a feed from Leonid Bulgakov. The teams went to the first intermission knotted at one apiece. Bismarck began the second period as they did the first: with an early goal. This time it was Jakub Kopecky scoring the go-ahead marker. Zane Rowan and Drew Roelofs earned the assists on the second Bobcat tally. The rest of the period remained scoreless but not uneventful. A scum at 8:02 resulted in a quarter of roughing minors. The final frame saw goaltenders Thomas Anderson and Damon Cunningham stand tall and keep the game at its 2-1 score for over 19 minutes. That was until Alexander Kim secured a Bismarck victory thanks to an empty net goal in the dying seconds. Anderson stopped 29 of 30 shots he faced in the win for the Bobcats while Cunningham made 26 saves for Aberdeen. Game 4 is scheduled for tonight with Bismarck looking to force a decisive Game 5.

Austin 3 @ Minot 1 (Austin leads Central Division Semifinals 2-1): Austin rode a perfect 6/6 penalty kill to force a Game 4 with a 3-1 victory. Minot jumped on Austin early in the series-clinching game. Billy Batten broke the ice 2:57 into contest with Jack O’Hanisain and Jesse Juhola grabbing the assists on the goal. Austin continued to battle, though, killing a trio of penalties that included 1:40 of 5-on-3 time. The Bruins ended the period on the penalty kill as well making the unit 4/4 in the opening frame. Austin then exploded in the middle frame. EJ Paddington leveled the game at one 5:32 into the period before Evan Malkhassian gave the Bruins the lead. His first of the game came 69 seconds after Paddington’s. Malkhassian struck again only four minutes later to push Austin in front 3-1. Augustus Elbert assisted on both Malkhassian goals. Goaltenders Jack Solomon and Lukas Swedin stood tall in the third. Austin had to kill a pair of penalties in the third period to secure the win. Solomon stopped 25 of the 26 shots in the win for the Bruins. Swedin are 29 stops for Minot. The teams face off again tomorrow night in Game 4.

Fairbanks 2 @ Anchorage 3 (Anchorage wins Midwest Division Semifinals 3-0): The Anchorage Wolverines are on to the next round of the Robertson Cup playoffs as they knocked off their in-state rival, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3-2 in Game 3 of the Midwest Division Semifinals. Toby Carlson struck first in the opening period as his first of the postseason with just under five minutes to play in the period. Cole Christian extended that lead in late in the second period with his third goal of the series off a nice pas from Taisetsu Ushio. In the third, Fairbanks would make things interesting in the third as Gage Leonard lit the lamp to make it a one goal game. Next it was Ushio who extended the Anchorage lead again to give him a three-point night on the scoresheet. The Ice Dogs would have an answer as Jackson Fox scored just 23 seconds later to bring it back to a one goal contest with just over five minutes to play. Michael Manzi would be up to the test in the final few minutes as he ended the evening with 30 saves. Mason McElroy stopped 21 opportunities fired in his direction. The Wolverines will await the winner of the Steel and Windigo in the division finals.

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